Laura Trott was born a month prematurely suffering from a collapsed lung but
fought back to health to win Olympic gold.

When Laura Trott was born a month prematurely suffering from a collapsed lung, doctors warned her parents that she might not survive.

However, the tiny baby fought for life with the same dogged determination that she would display 20 years later to win a second Olympic gold medal in track cycling from behind with an astonishing last-gasp surge for the line.

The slight British cyclist was all but unknown 18 months ago, when she was the youngest member of the England team at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

With two golds at her home Olympics, she has now inherited the crown of Britain’s Queen of the Velodrome from Victoria Pendleton, who ended her final Games with a disappointing silver.

Trott had already won a gold medal as part of Team GB’s record-breaking women's team pursuit squad but she went one better on a night filled with drama and excitement.

After winning the gruelling six-stage women’s omnium event with a gutsy, passionate ride that had the 6,000–strong crowd on their feet and cheering wildly, she cycled over to her family’s trackside seats and hugged her biggest supporters.

Overcome by emotion, she paid tribute to the sacrifices made by her parents Adrian and Glenda so she could rise to the top of world cycling.

"I couldn't have done it without them, the amount of money they had to put in when I was younger, and take me here there and everywhere. My dad had to give up his cricket,” she said.

“I am so happy, I can't thank anyone enough."

Trott’s huge, surging power on the track contrasts with her apparent fragility off it. She is just 5ft 4ins tall and weighs only 8 stone 3 lbs.

She came into the final day of events in the Velodrome in Stratford, east London, in the lead in the demanding two-day multi-discipline omnium.

However, she slipped back into second place behind Sarah Hammer, 28, of the United States, finishing behind her rival in the 3km indivdual pursuit and the scratch race.

This left her trailing Hammer by two points going into the final event, the two-lap 500m time trial, and needing to finish at least three places in front of her in order to guarantee winning gold.

Trott set off at a galloping pace and was fastest of all 18 competitors, but Hammer was in second place overall for much of the race.

When the American crossed the finish line in fourth place for the event, giving the young British cyclist the gold, the Velodrome erupted in spontaneous applause.

Trott said afterwards: "I can't believe this has happened to me, I really can't.

“I came in today not feeling as good as yesterday and I was losing my head in between events because they weren't going the way I wanted them to.”

Joking that her pair of gold medals might weigh more than she does, she added: “I can’t believe I won two, I really can’t. I can’t get over it. It is just amazing. I can't even put it into words, I really can't."

Her achievement is all the more remarkable because she is often sick after races, a result of an acid lining problem in her stomach.

Trott, from Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, was eight when she took up cycling with her mother, who was trying to lose weight.

She was also a successful trampolinist as a schoolgirl, but decided to concentrate on cycling, becoming European champion in 2010.

Trott’s older sister Emma, 22, a professional road cyclist who competed alongside her at the Delhi Commonwealth Games, jumped up and down with glee when she remembered that the Olympic champion had pledged to buy her a new car if she won gold in the omnium.

She said: “At the start of the year, she promised me a new car if she won the World Championships and the Olympics. I don’t know what I’m going to get.”